The purpose of the review is to consider whether the existing standards and rules, indexed at http://www.shipspotting.com/support/index.php, are appropriate and necessary – and in particular whether they are as clear and as easy to apply by both photographers and administrators as is possible. The views of Shipspotting members are welcomed. The initial focus will be on the General Standards. The variations appropriate for specific categories will follow, though some may be deferred where changes to the categories themselves are under consideration.

The review is based on a consensus that:a) the ethos of the site requires there to be minimum standards and some practical rules;b) it should, as now, be the members' prime responsibility to satisfy the standards/rules, and they should consequently be clear and easy to understand;c) an oversight by Admin is required to ensure site standards are met;d) standards/rules should be actively reviewed from time to time;e) relaxation of individual rules/standards will be considered when there are exceptional circumstances, eg where an image is the only one of the ship on the site;f) there will be no additional unofficial rules.

The review will begin with consultation through a specific members’ forum, which will have a specific discussion thread for each of the general standards, inviting comments and suggestions on the content of each (or indeed whether it is necessary at all). There will also be a separate thread for any additional ideas. If you are happy with the standard, or if you find it hard to understand, please say so. Please try to respond in English, even if it is not your language or it is a machine-translation (there is no site standard for this!); we will ask you if your meaning is unclear. It is your own thoughts that we want, so please try not to comment on what other members write.

Each subject will be exposed for a month to allow members to add their views and will then be summarised and considered by all Admins for the development of any desired changes or redrafting, especially taking into account the practicalities from Photo Admin and technical resource points of view. The revised text will then be added to the website and members informed.

It is the intention make access to the site standards more straightforward on the website, and to also make them available in languages other than English.

Please continue to use the the "Site related news, functions and modules" forum for any other aspects of what Shipspotters does and how it does it.

If you have questions or concerns about the process of this review, please comment here. I will start off the first few topics in the coming hours. If you don't see your favourite subject yet, please wait - it will come. Like your photos, please stay focussed on the subject and with just the right exposure. We look forward to your contributions.

I have made the translation to the Spanish language of this topic, being as follows:

The purpose of the review is to consider whether the existing standards and rules, indexed at http://www.shipspotting.com/support/index.php, are appropriate and necessary – and in particular whether they are as clear and as easy to apply by both photographers and administrators as is possible. The views of Shipspotting members are welcomed. The initial focus will be on the General Standards. The variations appropriate for specific categories will follow, though some may be deferred where changes to the categories themselves are under consideration.

d) standards/rules should be actively reviewed from time to time; de vez en cuando las normas/reglas deberán ser activamente revisadas;

e) relaxation of individual rules/standards will be considered when there are exceptional circumstances, eg where an image is the only one of the ship on the site; la relajación de las reglas/de estándares individuales se considerarán cuando hay circunstancias excepcionales, es decir, donde una imagen es la única de la nave en el sitio;

f) there will be no additional unofficial rules. no habran más reglas no oficiales.

The review will begin with consultation through a specific members’ forum, which will have a specific discussion thread for each of the general standards, inviting comments and suggestions on the content of each (or indeed whether it is necessary at all). There will also be a separate thread for any additional ideas. If you are happy with the standard, or if you find it hard to understand, please say so. Please try to respond in English, even if it is not your language or it is a machine-translation (there is no site standard for this!); we will ask you if your meaning is unclear. It is your own thoughts that we want, so please try not to comment on what other members write.

Each subject will be exposed for a month to allow members to add their views and will then be summarised and considered by all Admins for the development of any desired changes or redrafting, especially taking into account the practicalities from Photo Admin and technical resource points of view. The revised text will then be added to the website and members informed.

It is the intention make access to the site standards more straightforward on the website, and to also make them available in languages other than English.La intención es tener un acceso más directo a las normas del sitio web, y también tenerlos disponibles en otros idiomas aparte del Inglés.

Please continue to use the the "Site related news, functions and modules" forum for any other aspects of what Shipspotters does and how it does it.Por favor, continuar usando las "Noticias relacionadas, funciones y módulos del sitio" para cualquier otros aspectos de lo que Shipspotters hace y cómo lo hace.

If you have questions or concerns about the process of this review, please comment here. I will start off the first few topics in the coming hours. If you don't see your favourite subject yet, please wait - it will come. Like your photos, please stay focussed on the subject and with just the right exposure. We look forward to your contributions.

It seems desirable to amend all the rules so as to give the admins a little more breathing space. Occasionally, in the past, aggravation was caused by an admin actually taking refuge behind the rules. The excuse was seen that "the rules say so-and-so, therefore I had no other option than to delete". That way, unusual or somewhat controversial photos that caught the attention and interest of many members were taken down, regardless of loud and numerous protests.Therefore a rule should not state squarely "...will be deleted". It should read "may be deleted", "may not be admitted" or something to that effect. That way the occasional exception will have the chance it deserves.This site is about photographs that show ships to their best advantage. Sometimes that can be a little more tricky than even the best ruler or admin in the world could be able to foresee.Uwe

I think that before the site standards can be properly reviewed and set, there needs to be a clear definition of exactly what the site is about, particularly around photographs. There seems to be two basic schools of though on this amongst members, judging by this, and other recent forum topics. There are those who think that the standard of photographs should be high, and those who feel that there should be a bit of flexibility around the standards, without it being a total free for all.

Once you have established this definition the standards can then be set to meet that, but, until you do that it will be very difficult to set any meaningful ones. Define the site, then define the standards to meet that.

I'm in the latter camp, after all the site is called Shipspotting.com, not Excellentshipphotography.com, but I accept that others won't share that view.

The various standards that apply to specific categories only have now been posted for comment, for contributions by 13 November

The first batch of site standards have now closed for comments and we are preparing a summary of views for consideration by Admins. We will publish that when ready, together with revised wording where necessary.

There are still a few days left to comment on Site Standards 6, 7 and 8.

There are also a considerable number of rules/procedure relating to the submission of images and the required accompanying information. We will be considering these too in the near future and seeking members' comments.

Simon raised an interesting question in the previous contribution. It seems to me that the underlying philosophy in the past, and generally shared now, is that the site is focused on the publication of "good quality photographs" at a level which can encompass a wide range of membership and of image type/age. This is, I think, intended to be encapsulated in the following on the About Shipspotting introduction:

Quote

Site standards are determined with criteria that can be met by members with a wide range of experience, camera gear and shipspotting locations. Site standards provide an important element of consistent quality control for the site which is frequently reviewed.

Perhaps it is sometimes more helpful for our goal of showing good pictures to leave a not so perfect picture on the site and give a hint how it would be a better picture than to just delete it.

Not every one of us comes with great experience or expensive gear (not that the latter is really necessary for good photos but it helps some times ...) and i got the feeling in the past that some people got discouraged from posting by the practice of deletions.

I understand that this is no photography school ...

I was hesitant of starting to post myself not at least because of this. Only recently i decided to "open my archives".